Day: October 5, 2015

You guys know what this means?! Potluck Tuesday is happening again tomorrow. Stop by at the 5th floor Lounge for more free food and snacks! If you have class, just stop by, grab your food and you’re on your way back. We all know the struggle of having class all day and not getting the chance to eat. Well here is your chance. Tomorrow at 12pm!

On the other hand, I hope everybody is doing well in classes. Please contact me if you feel a struggle or overwhelmed or if you need to be directed to a tutor. Midterms are approaching and many announcements will be made very soon. You guys know where to find me. Look out for us, First Year Program N506!

I decided to choose these two subjects to juxtapose because they are so completely different to me. Walking down Jay Street my eye catches this big beautiful building which is the Brooklyn Fire Headquarters, and right next to it is a small café that you can miss you don’t look carefully. What strikes me the most is why they would build a small café right in the middle of these big tall buildings? It just does not fit right. What I want to know is, how long has the fire house and the café been there? What was there before the café was built there? Why did they chose to build a café in that location? As Whitehead said from City Limits “Go back to your old haunts in your old neighborhoods and what do you find: they remain and have disappeared. The greasy spoon, the deli, the dry cleaner you scouted out when you first arrived and tried to make those new streets yours: they are gone.” This applies to this location, because I did some research and discovered there use to be another building where the café now is, therefore when people return to Jay street one day they will want to know what happened to the place that the café replace. That building is now gone and a new one took its place. Whitehead also said “Maybe we become New Yorkers the day we realize that New York will go on without us.” Meaning New York is always changing thus leaving different sensory in our neighborhoods even though we do not want change sometimes New York will keep evolving in the future with or without us.

This is not just a building or an alignment of buildings that create juxtaposition. This is an intersection between Livingston street, Boerum place, and Red Hook Lane. What really caught my attention is that the front building to the right looks old fashion, because of the way the roof top has a crown looking rim around it and how the windows look as if they were tucked into the building. There are also a lot of air conditioners in that building. Then in the background there are modern buildings forming. Which have more of glass windows and are very geometrical even on the roof. They do not have air conditioners either because of how central air has taken over in many new buildings. There is a pattern as well because the second building to the left looks very old fashion too with the beige color and round windows. The pattern is old, new, old, new building. To get to this locations it takes 10 min to walk to from City Tech. When you exit make a right, walking on Jay street straight to Livingston street where you would make a right turn. You will just walk one block and end up at the intersection of Red Hook Lane and Boerum Place on Livingston street.

I have actually never walked this way before. The reason I stumbled across it was because a friend of mine wanted to shop around the area so I followed. As I was walking I thought to myself, let me see if I could find a place where I see juxtaposition. I had found a couple but it was this one that caught my eye the most. I actually did not like the intersection, because it was very busy full of cars beeping every where. It felt stressful just to cross the street.

What we might add: prompted by questions from peer, maybe focused on the argument, add more detail–especially about senses, how it’s a juxtaposition

a thesis statement:it establishes your main idea; points out your side of an argument; makes a straightforward point (vs argumentative); summarizes the claim; outlines what you’ll find in the rest of the essay; a road map to the rest of the project; a guide for the reader; specific. End of your introduction.

what’s up?

how come?

so what?

What we might remove: look for repetition. If we want to avoid a particular stance, eg first person. (especially I believe, I feel, I think)

remove aspects that don’t fit with the focus we’re choosing (ask–what does this have to do with your argument? your comparison? your main idea?)

Everyday, new changes are happening and sometimes we are not aware of it. One place in particular that has been changing over the years is New York; particularly New York City. The city has been known as “The City of Dreams” or “Empire City”. There is always something changing in New York City whether it’s constructing new buildings or adding new businesses. Living in New York, we don’t realize the changes that are happening or we see it but don’t really care too much about it.

For this project, the place that I chose to do was the U.S. Polo Association Outlet Store on 468 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. From the City Tech building, it’s only a walking distance to the store. When you get out from the Namm building, you turn right and just walk straight until you’re at the corner of 2 Smith Street. When you’re walking from Jay Street, you’ll pass by the Supreme and Family Court, the Jay Street/MetroTech train station, and some stores on the way. When you get to the corner of 2 Smith Street, cross the street and continue to walk straight. On you’re walk, you’ll pass through many shops such as Gap, Foot Locker, Unique, Macy’s, American Eagle Outfitters, Kay Jewelers, Modells Sporting Shops, Journey’s. When you see Aldo’s, you’ll see the Polo Outlet Store right next to it. You won’t be able to miss it because of the cream colored building and the large blue polo logo on the store.

The U.S. Polo Association brand has been going on since 1890 and it continues to grow with many outlet stores opened in New York and other different states. From the five boroughs in New York, three outlet stores are opened in Manhattan, one in Queens, one in the Bronx, and one in Brooklyn. The Polo outlet store in Brooklyn is a fairly tall cream building with a large blue polo logo in the front. There are two glass doors at the front. It is also in between a sneaker shop and Aldo.

In Brooklyn, you see a mix of some name brand stores and some non-name brand stores. On Fulton Street you’ll see a line mixed with name rand and non-name brand stores. For example, the U.S. Polo Association Outlet Store, is between a name brand store called Aldo’s, non-name brand sneaker store and a non-name jewelry store. In Manhattan, you mostly see brand name stores that are next to each other such as Tiffany and Co., Armani, Coach, etc. While the other non-name brand stores are somewhere else and they’re all also next to each other.

New York City is known as “The Concrete Jungle” that is filled with many different sights, smells, sounds, and attractions. When people explore this jungle they get lost in all the diversity that surrounds them. Not lost in a trying to figure out where to go kind of way but more in dream-like state. Each person has a unique experience when being in the city. New York City hold a reputation of being the place of opportunity and miracles. While the outsiders of city are filled with the idea that New York City is a grand utopia, the New Yorkers that have known the reality of this city would tell you otherwise. New York City is not all city considering Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and The Bronx aren’t filled with the skyscrapers and busy streets. Some New Yorkers choose to live the luxurious lifestyle the city part has to offer. The others choose to live less frivolously in the lesser known areas of New York where it is more residential.

When thinking of Manhattan most people would think extravagant, stylish, and a place for opportunity. Manhattan is the borough that is filled with the interpretation of a utopia. With a cluster of tall buildings, bold bright lights filled with ads, many known name brand stores and famous restaurants altogether it’s no wonder Manhattan gets most the attention. To most people this is a place where you would find style no only in the streets but in the people as well. The people have a more chic look that would make you think that everyone is rich and likes to spend their money. Mostly when people hear New York City they think of the borough Manhattan since it has more of the iconic landmarks that New York City is known for such as the Empire State Building, Central Park, and The Statue of Liberty just to name a few. Manhattan is the borough that is more exposed from tourism while not much attention is paid to the rest of the boroughs that make up the city. The rest of the boroughs are not really looked at to be as special even though it is the five boroughs that make up the city as a whole.

However the Bronx would be the polar opposite of Manhattan. When thinking of the Bronx most people would think poor, ghetto, and dangerous. The Bronx is filled with many lesser known small business, smaller apartments and not as much opportunity that Manhattan has to offer. The Bronx is the recognized birthplace of hip hop and rap music which made the image of hood that The Bronx is mostly known for. In The Bronx you could most likely get away with crimes such as speeding, stealing and hopping the turnstile at the train station. While Manhattan is seen as a place of welcome , The Bronx is seen as you can’t mess with anyone there without getting mugged or shot. Also The Bronx is known as an impoverished, neglected, and otherwise disadvantaged residential area of a city, usually troubled by a disproportionately large amount of crime.

In the borough of Brooklyn there lies a location that brings a feeling of juxtaposition of two boroughs that would be considered polar opposites from one another. Right where the Fulton Mall and Lawrence Street is located we have two stores known as Dr.Jay’s and Banana Republic right next to each other. Banana Republic is a store that is mainly found the borough of Manhattan. While the store Dr.Jay’s would be mainly found in the borough of the Bronx. These stores are not only contrasting in terms of the boroughs they come from but also in fashion. Banana Republic contains clothing items that portrays a sophisticated, city look. While Dr.Jay’s contains clothing that portrays a ghetto,hood look. For someone who has experienced both boroughs, it feels bizarre placing these stores next to each other given the boroughs they are mainly found in. This part of Brooklyn puts the slum area with the city area making it feel like two other worldly lands are colliding against one another.

This location shows the diversity of what New York is known for. The higher class being next to the lower class is not only shown in these two stores but is shown in the people as well. The location shows people in business suits going about their day with people dressed in hoodies and sneakers. In this location it would feel as though people with their own vision of New York intertwine and make a new vision that could expand both of their views on New York as a whole. Each individual who have visited New York City has their own experience of what New York is to them. Some people may have a fantastic experience while another person may have a terrible one or neutral. New York City is the place to expands one vision on a diverse level.

For this project, I listened to two types of music; Legato and Staccato to help me create patterns that go with it. Legato is music that is smooth and it flows. Staccato is music that has a fast beat and have breaks between the notes. The song that I chose for the Legato was “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran. This song was slow and had a smooth flow to it. For the song, the pattern that I drew for this were wavy lines. For Staccato, the song that I chose for it was “Very Good” by Block B. This song has a heavy beat to it and has some breaks between the notes. The pattern that I decided to draw for this was zig-zags. The drawings took about 20 to 25 minutes to do.

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The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share

The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.

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The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share

The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.